Two Chicago Neighborhoods Make ‘Wealthiest’ List

Two Chicago neighborhoods recently made a list of the 100 richest in the nation. That’s according to the Higley 1000, which lists the highest-income neighborhoods in the United States.

The survey, conducted by Stephen Higley, a professor emeritus of urban social geography at the University of Montevallo, in Montevallo, Ala., also found that the top neighborhoods are home to more Asian and Latino residents than ever before.

To compile his ranking, Higley used the American Community Survey 2006-2010 and aggregated contiguous block groups with a mean income greater than $200,000.

According to the recently released report, the East Lake Shore Drive neighborhood in Chicago is the sixth-richest neighborhood in the country, while the Burr Ridge Club neighborhood ranks as the 37th richest.

New York City has 234 neighborhoods among the nation’s 1,000 richest, followed by Washington, D.C., with 102, Los Angeles, with 91, San Francisco with 61, and Chicago, with 55.

According to Business Insider, East Lake Shore Drive – with a mean household income of $593,454 – is best known for buildings designed by architects Benjamin Marshall and Charles Eli Fox.

The buildings “were constructed between 1912 and 1929, and are evidence of the city's boom in luxury apartments during the early 20th century. Their style derives from England, France and Italy, and helped establish the apartment building as an acceptable alternative to large townhouses and estates,” according to Business Insider.

According to Higley, the richest neighborhood in the country can be found in Greenwich, Conn., which is also home to the 16th wealthiest neighborhood. Coral Gables, Fla., boasts three of the 25 richest neighborhoods while McLean, Va., Potomac, Md., and Newport Beach, Md., have two each.